Wizard's Pacific Northwest Tour

Quote: Evenbob

Traffic

I hardly drive at all so the perceived bad traffic doesn't bother me. It is much worse in LA. Seattle was bad too.

Quote: Evenbob

Tourists

Well, without tourists there would be no Vegas, so I think we have to be thankful for them.

Quote: Evenbob

Homeless

In Portland there were gobs of them and they walked about like the owned the place. Here is Vegas, they know most locals and police don't like them and they stay in their place.

Quote: Evenbob

Sameness, the whole town looks the same.

Yeah. I think my comment about lack of family businesses touched on this, but the housing is very cookie cutter as well.

Quote: Evenbob

Too flat and colorless.

Flat is at least good for unicycling.

Quote: Evenbob

Crime

I don't have any statistics in front of me, but I wouldn't be surprised if Vegas is on par with other cities of its size in terms of crime. However, it does bother me that when my house got robbed it took the police about a week to send over a trainee and we never got a follow up. A "sorry, we never caught the guy" would have been nice.

Quote: Evenbob

Cost of living.

I grew up near the coast in Orange County so I consider the lost of living here low by comparison.

You can't compare anything to Portland. It's the
homeless capital of the US, and trying to be the
crack capital. I saw a homeless guy the other
day with a sign and did a triple take, we rarely
see them.

Traffic is bad in any big city, I hate it. We got robbed
20 years ago and the cop never got out of his car.
It's that way everywhere. The only thing Vegas has
going for it is close proximity to many casinos. That's
it.

Quote: Wizard

Here are the things I'm tired of about last Vegas.

• Summer heat.
• Nowhere close to do water sports.
• Lack of class.
• Among the worst public schools in the country.
• No community spirit. People come here, live a few years, and leave. You very seldom meet an adult who has lived here his/her whole life.
• Very few family-owned businesses. Everything is a franchise of a big chain.
• Too materialistic.
• No elite public universities to send my kids to.
• Lousy health care.

I spent two years living just north of Seattle and another nine years in Vancouver, BC. The pac northwest has tons of rain and lots of hippies, now smoking legal weed.

Mind you, I think your kids will probably like it more there. I'd move there before they get too old and attached.

Quote: boymimbo

I spent two years living just north of Seattle and another nine years in Vancouver, BC. The pac northwest has tons of rain and lots of hippies, now smoking legal weed.
.

There are lots of weirdo's in the PacNW for sure,
my sister has lived in Seattle for 30 years. But
there's a ton of stuff to do there, when it's not
raining. And it's not 115 degrees four months
of the year.

I think I could see myself in Tacoma. An affordable version of Seattle.

What would you do in Tacoma, it's hard the be
the Wiz outside of Vegas.

Quote: Wizard

I think I could see myself in Tacoma. An affordable version of Seattle.

A bit more stray bullets at night too, I hear. Seemed to be very different lifestyles in different areas of town.

I wonder about it being neighborhoods or states or cities. A question of granularity, perhaps.

I recall the couple, each dealers, who lived in Vegas for years and only met one of their neighbors and even that was prompted by a FedEx delivery problem. Yet when they moved to the Land of Disenchantment (promised Floor, actual Dealer) they met all four neighbors within three days. Moved back to Vegas for dealer jobs and then finally moved to Hawaii where there are no casinos.

Some coastal towns in California have struck me as still being in the Sixties: Food Co-Ops, Surfboards, cheap but spotless housing. Tie-dyed cottons everywhere, even communes were still going strong.

Some towns are clearly havens for the wealthy only. Big Sur, Spendocino.

Some towns seem to have real problems: Half Moon Bay owes a fortune in some legal case and is losing its beach access to a private owner. Hard times ahead for sure.

But most towns in California seem to be struggling onward. Dunsmuir has its water and beer and its farmers markets and few businesses. Redding is doing just fine. Etna is an enclave of music and art amidst the 'no roads, no schools, no nothing' bond issues. Alot of towns seem to be losing commerce. Empty downtowns. Comic stores can't support a strip mall. People buy on line or they don't buy at all.

Consider Oregon: Josephine County recently closed its Sheriff's Office to all but M-F 9 to 5. Emptied the jail and told judges to learn how to use community oriented bail and sentences. The voters endorsed the "Taxes can not erode our lifestyle" stance. The fire department is volunteers and so too will be crime suppression.

Quote: Wizard

I think I could see myself in Tacoma. An affordable version of Seattle.

10 Reasons Why People Fall in Love With San Miguel de Allende

A lot of families went to SMA after 9-11. They send their kids to private school (just like Vegas). Montessori schools are popular.

Quote: Wizard

I think I could see myself in Tacoma. An affordable version of Seattle.

Very high crime. You would do much better in the northside, towards Everett, Bothell, Lynwood. Traffic is hell in Seattle too. Or go east to Issaquah, Monroe, Snohomish. You'll be closer to the mountains there, further from the water.

Tacoma crime stats

Quote: Fleastiff

lived in Vegas for years and only met one of their neighbors and even that was prompted by a FedEx delivery problem. Yet when they moved to the Land of Disenchantment (promised Floor, actual Dealer) they met all four neighbors within three days.

I have no idea who my neighbors are
and I've lived here for 33 years. I don't
need to know who they are. In Calif I
always knew, because there, people are
always wanting something from you.
Borrowing the lawn mower or watching
their dog or using a kitchen appliance.

Where I live now people are self sufficient,
and I'm sure I wouldn't like them anyway.